Mark Twain, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress (1869), recalled that during his childhood, he opened a journal on New Year’s Day, but then, he stopped, discouraged: “Startling events appeared to be too rare, in my career, to render a diary necessary. I still reflect with pride, however, that even at that early age I washed when I got up. That journal finished me. I never have had the nerve to keep one since. My loss of confidence in myself in that line was permanent.”

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My name Edmark M. Law. I work as a freelance writer, mainly writing about science and mathematics. I am an ardent hobbyist. I like to read, solve puzzles, play chess, make origami and play basketball. In addition, I dabble in magic, particularly card magic and other sleight-of-hand type magic. I live in Hong Kong.
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This is how teachers can see the creative students from the boring ones. I remember when I was student teaching I gave 25 students an assignment to talk about their day. 23 of the students, like Mark Train, had boring messages; however, there were 2 students that stood out, because they were creative writers… so, they did not see their say day get up wash your face, but they saw beauty around them, they came up with funny stories. I realized then the difference between sitting down and talking to an engineer/medical person from an artist or architect. Our minds think differently. We all have our gifts. 🙂

Smiling… that’s why I had the misspelling (just kidding) – auto correct does that, we need to constantly “re-read” what we type. True, but even though I am “told” Mark Twain was a great writer, he is a classic, you MUST read him, it doesn’t mean I have enjoyed reading his stories. So, just because we are “TOLD” something is a classic doesn’t mean we personally feel it is a classic to us. I feel we are all inspired by different writing styles and stories. That is the beauty of going into a library… we can ALL go to the area/topic/authors that we find inspiration from. Thanks for a good topic, I have never been a journal writer either.

I have never used autocorrect since I think that it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Opinions on whether someone is a good writer is subjective. It’s also a matter of taste. Personally, I don’t think that Twain’s stories are that phenomenal since there are many writers who have written more profound stories. However, I have to admit that he had a wicked wit. Also, he became a classic for a reason. Many writers today are still influenced by his writings either directly or indirectly.

I also don’t buy the BS that I must think that a classic work is good just because it’s a classic. For instance, a lot of people like Alexander Pope’s works but they just don’t resonate with me. However, I still respect him just for the fact that he’s still remembered these days. It’s definitely not an easy feat considering how many people were already forgotten and now only reside at the dustbin of history.

Of course, not all forgotten works are bad. I know since I like to read old and forgotten texts. It’s just a shame that they may never be read again even by scholars in the future…

Agreed, old forgotten works are wonderful, especially the British who have a way of speaking that the Americans do not. We have a more familiar/slang way of speech. When I need a pick me up, I really enjoy reading the Flashman series, Horatio Hornblower and Sharpe… and Jane Austen… there are more. A favorite movie that I love is Captains Corageous. Wonderful. Really enjoy Rudyard Kipling. FYI: Auto correct, I guess I would have to turn it off, but too lazy to find where that would be. :).

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Learn Fun Facts is an archive of curious facts for the curious. I write on a variety of subjects, including mathematics, science, technology, language, history, literature, art and anything in between.